DOWNY WOODPECKER. 



27 



reascended the stairs I heard him again hard at work, and, on en- 

 tering, had the mortification to perceive that he had almost entirely 

 ruined the mahogany table to which he was fastened, and on which 

 he had wreaked his whole vengeance. While engaged in taking 

 the drawing, he cut me severely in several places, and on the whole 

 displayed such a noble and unconquerable spirit, that I was fre- 

 quently tempted to restore him to his native woods. He lived with 

 me nearly three days, but refused all sustenance, and I witnessed 

 his death with regret." 



The Downy Woodpecker. (Picus Ptibescens.) 

 Fig. 2. 



This really beautiful little Woodpecker is, in several of the West- 

 ern States, called the Sapsucker, perhaps from his habit of boring 

 several rows of holes around a tree, one above another, at almost 

 regular distances apart. The question might be asked for what 

 purpose should he bore through the apparently healthy bark of a 

 tree, if not in order to obtain the sap. But the little bird knows 

 better for what purpose he does the work, as whenever he is seen 

 so engaged, we may rest assured that there is a grub-worm under 

 the bark, and the whole story of his sap-seeking is a mere figment 

 of the imagination. If he were seeking sap, he would certainly 

 prefer the juicy maple or birch to any other tree ; but these are 

 seldom, or never, attacked by him, because there are hardly ever 

 any worms to be found under their rind. 



Familiarity, diligence, perseverance, and a surprising strength 

 and energy in the head and neck, are the principal characteristics 

 of this frolicsome little bird. He may be seen sometimes for half 

 an hour at the same spot on an infested branch of an old apple-tree, 

 working incessantly until he succeeds in dislodging and destroying 

 the destructive brood of insects sheltered in the crevices between 

 the bark and the wood. When he is so engaged, you may approach 

 him pretty close, and stand within a few feet of him, directly under 

 the tree where he is working, without embarrassing him in the 

 least. Sometimes he will spend two hours on the same tree, all 

 the time at work, while the powerful and rapid strokes of his bill 

 can be distinctly heard at the distance of several yards. 



His favorite haunts are the woods on the borders of streams, for- 

 ests, or single groves ; but he is also often found, especially in fall 

 and winter, in our orchards and gardens. During the summer he 

 keeps company only with his own kind, and moves about in a com- 

 paratively small district ; but in the fall and winter, he is generally 

 found in company with other birds, as the Titmouse, Nuthatch, 

 Creeper, and Golden-crested Wren. In both his wood and orchard 

 excursions, he usually leads the van ; but he is never much inclined 

 to be amiable toward his companions of other kinds, nor does he 

 take any notice of them, a disposition that seems to be the result 

 of a mere desire for food. He will, for the same reason, come to 

 the spot, when, by beating on a dry limb, you have imitated his 

 drumming. This desire for food will make him believe that 

 another of his kind, whom he is not much inclined to favor, has 

 had better luck than he. In his ramblings he avoids, like the 

 Hairy Woodpecker, flying across open plains, and as the sole 

 object of his ramblings is to find more plentiful food, he does not 

 regard roundabout ways. He is very lively, always in motion, 

 and seemingly always in a hurry to get through with what he is 

 engaged in, and contributes, by this and his thin but shrill voice, 

 "krick, krick, krick," or "tick, tick, tick," a great deal to enliven 

 the forest, especially a dark pine-forest, in the most pleasant man- 

 ner. His flight is by starts, swift and whirring, but not far 

 extended. When seen on the ground, which seldom happens, he 

 performs his hopping with great care. He prefers to sit on the 

 highest branches of a tree, uttering his lively "krick, krick, 

 krick," which he frequently repeats. When he flies off, or alights 

 on another tree, he utters a rather shriller cry, consisting of the 

 same notes, quickly reiterated. For the night's rest he retires to a 



hollow tree, and conceals himself also in such a place when he is 

 wounded. 



It is very amusing to observe this Woodpecker at the time of 

 mating. At that time he is peculiarly lively, and usually two 

 males are seen paying court to one female, both flying very often 

 above the tree, and chasing each other around it. If one gets tired 

 of flying about, he suddenly lights on some dry withered branch, 

 and commences drumming for spite. Then the other male begins 

 the same operation, and this they keep up sometimes for hours. 

 As soon as one of them observes the female, who is never far off, 

 he leaves his place, flying toward her, and these two chase each 

 other round and round, uttering a strong "kack, kack, kack," or 

 "krick, krick, krick." As soon as the other male hears this he 

 appears on the scene, and the two males now chase the female, or 

 engage in a fight with each other. This amusement lasts till about 

 seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and is kept up till one of* 

 them has become victorious in driving the other entirely away. 



In making his nest-hole, this Woodpecker seems to be rather at 

 a loss how to proceed. He begins a great many excavations before 

 he finishes one, and always prefers to find, if possible, a hole in 

 which either he or some of his kindred have already reared their 

 young. About the middle of May the male and female begin to 

 look out for a suitable place for their eggs and young. Some 

 tree— generally an apple, pear, or cherry tree, often in the neigh- 

 borhood of a farm-house — is usually selected for this purpose. For 

 several days previous to beginning the operation of digging the 

 hole, the tree is minutely examined, and then the digging is com- 

 menced b}f the male, who excavates a circular opening, so per- 

 fectly circular that it seems as if it must have been marked out 

 with a pair of compasses. After he has wrought for a time, and 

 become tired, he is relieved by the female, and so both continue the 

 work with indefatigable diligence. The direction of the hole, if in 

 the trunk of a tree, is usually downward, in an oblique direction, 

 for a few inches, and then straight down for about eight or ten 

 inches more. Within it is roomy, capacious, and as smooth as if it 

 were made by a cabinet-maker. The entrance is just large enough 

 to admit the passage of the owners. The chips are carried out to 

 some distance, so as to conceal all traces of the nest. The opera- 

 tion of preparing the nest-hole occupies sometimes a whole week, 

 sometimes less. The female, before beginning to lay, visits the 

 hole often, minutely examining both the interior and exterior before 

 taking possession. As in the case of all Woodpeckers, there is no 

 regular nest ; but a few fine sawdust-like chips are left at the bottom 

 of the hole as a substitute for a nest, and on these the female lays, 

 toward the latter part of May, generally six eggs, of a pure white 

 color. The male frequently supplies the female with food while 

 she is sitting. The young begin to make their appearance in the 

 latter part of June, when they may be seen leaving the hole, 

 making their way up the tree, and already climbing with great 

 dexterity. The little House Wren, who also builds his nests in 

 hollows in trees or cracks in walls, and who is, on account of the 

 formation of his bill, unable to build a nest-hole for himself, often 

 drives the Downy out of his home by the most violent attacks, and, 

 after succeeding, builds his nest in the ill-gotten premises. 



The food of this species of Woodpecker, as with all other Wood- 

 peckers, consists chiefly of insects and their larvae. Besides these, 

 he regales himself with different kinds of fruits and berries ; but 1 

 his principal food is a kind of beetle that lays its eggs in cracks in 

 the bark of trees, its larvae working or boring long and winding 

 burrows under the bark close to the wood. In order to reach these, 

 our little Woodpecker works very hard, and on pine-trees he strips 

 off the bark in large quantities ; but he never strips it off from a 

 healthy pine-tree, and only from such as he is sure are infested 

 with grub-worms. He destroys an immense number of caterpillars, 

 which he uses as food for his young. He has also this peculiarity, 

 like others of this g'oup of birds, that, when he has hammered or 

 drummed on a dead limb, he will, on a sudden, run to the opposite 

 side to look after beetles or worms, which he may have started, and 



